“Johnny” (Signed) (1946) ~ Compiled by Harriet J. Stradling

“Johnny”

(Signed by the Compiler!) / Compiled by Harriet J. Stradling

Published: 1946 by Bookcraft. 295 pages.

Black hardcover; no dust jacket. Signed by the Author. There is also another ink inscription inside the book. Good to fair used condition overall.

“The story of an American soldier – revealed in the letters he sent to the folks back home.”

“Johnny was even as he described one of his buddies: ‘One of the kids they called men and drafted.’ A lad who fully understood his heritage, and who was willing to make any sacrifice to preserve the American way of life, even if many of the things he was called upon to do were foreign to his nature. Here, in letters written to his family from a defense construction camp while awaiting induction, and then from his induction center, during his basic and advanced training, and finally from North Africa and Europe, is unconsciously revealed his ‘private’s-eye’ view of the war and his reasons for fighting it.

Johnny’s letters make you feel that you are right with him, as he receives his army duties in a K.P. sort of way; as he first fires his gun; as he goes on those ‘glorified Boy Scout hikes’; and as he starts home on furlough. You’ll feel the additional pressure and responsibilities behind his pen when he realizes that his letters are subject to censorship as a precautionary measure. You’ll discover his emotions when he knows that he is at last going overseas. His thoughts will be yours as he first sees the destruction wrought by the war. In fact, you’ll revel at his descriptions and you’ll thrill that there were such young men representing you on the battlefields.”